Attacks by the herdsmen have claimed hundreds of lives. In the state of Benue alone, a study by Premium Times claims at least 1,269 lives have been lost in such attacks.

“This is another jihad like the one waged by Boko Haram in the north-east of the country,” according to Rev. Augustine Akpen Leva. “The attackers carry sophisticated weapons, sometimes they even used chemical weapons on our communities. They just come, often overnight when people are sleeping. They attack defenseless people and go away. They clearly have an agenda: to wipe out the Christian presence and take over the land.”